Buffer device



July 13, 1954 J. S. LINGNER BUFFER DEVICE Filed Feb. 29, 1952 INVENTOR Julius S L mgmzn ATTORNEY Patented July 13, 1954 BUFFER DEVICE Julius S. Lingner, East Glastonbury, Conn., as-

signor to The A. & W. Machine Company, Charlton City, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 29, 1952, Serial No. 274,262

5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in buffer devices and has particular reference to the provision of a simple, efiicient and economical device for limiting and absorbing the shock of the operative engagement of selective moving parts of a loom.

One of the principal objects ofthe invention is to provide a bulTer device for limiting and absorbing the shock of the return movement of the pick arm of a loom subsequent to the operative function of the picker stick in directing a shuttle transversely of the lay of a loom whereby obnoxious noises as well as wear and breakage of said pick arm, sweep stick and picker stick will be substantially eliminated.

Another object is to provide a bufier device of the above character which may be adjustably attached to the loom side or frame portion of a loom adjacent the pick arm whereby the extent of return movement of the pick arm and the position of the picker stick, prior to its function in advancing a shuttle transversely of the lay of a loom, may be initially controlled.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and it will be apparent that many changes may be made in the details or construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described as a preferred form only has been given by Way of illustration.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of the device embodying the invention and diagrammatically illustrating its position of use;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevational View of the device; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken asv on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows and showing it in connected relation with the associated part of the loom.

Prior to the present invention it has been the usual practice to provide an adjustable metallic bolt threaded into the loom side or frame section in the path of the return motion of the pick arm for limiting its movement.

The adjustment for limiting this return motion was accomplished by threading the bolt inwardly or outwardly of the'loom side or frame section. This arrangement, however, provided a metal to metal contact with no cushioning effect, with the 2 result that the engaging parts not only were sub jected to wear and breakage but also created very obnoxious noises.

The present invention is, therefore, directed to providing simple and efiicient means for obviating all of the above difiiculties.

Referring to the drawings wherein like char acters of reference designate like parts through the several views, the device embodying the invention comprises a main plate portion t having a longitudinal slot 5 extending therethrough. The main plate A is provided with a head 6 which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, is angled upwardly and to one side of the plane of the plate 4 as indicated by the dot and dash line I. The said head 6 is provided with a socket opening 8 in which a resilient filler 9 of artificial rubber, leather, fiber, or other suitable material normally of a size larger than and shaped substantially to the shape of the socket is frictionally positioned. The said filler extends outwardly of the free end of the head 5 an amount su mcient to function as a buffer menn her as will hereinafter be described.

The head 6, on the side of the plate A oppose-:1 to the socket opening 8 is provided with an extension It, which during the use of the device, adapted to engage the inside surface H of the loom' side or frame section to which the device is attached by a bolt or other suitable means it. The loom side or frame section is in the form of a channel iron as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 and the extension it is of a length sufiicient to posi tion the plate 4 substantially parallel with the inside surface H when the plate 5 engages the adjacent side surface E2 of the lower side portion [3 of the channel iron. The bolt it extends through an opening [5 in the channel iron and through the slot 5 in the plate 4 and is provided with a nut l6 threadedly connected with the threaded end of the bolt whereby the device may be adjusted upwardly or downwardly with respect to the loom side or frame section and held in adjusted position by tightening the nut it. This adjustment, as diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1, is for the purpose of varying the extent of return motion of the pick arm ll of the loom. This is brought about by reason of the fact that the side surface of the pick arm which e .gages the buffer member 9 during its return motion is angled upwardly and inwardly withrespect to the plane of the plate 4 as illustrated by the dot and dash line l8. It is apparent that if the device is adjusted in a' downward direction the return motion of thepick arm will be increased, and if adjusted upwardly the return motion will be decreased. The desired amount of return motion can, therefore, be controlled.

The pick arm I! is attached to a shaft l9 rotatably supported within a bracket 20. Motion is imparted to the pick arm l'l through the shaft is by conventional means not shown. The upper end of the pick arm is pivotally attached at 2! to a sweep stick 22. The sweep stick 22 is attached at 23 to a lug strap 24. A picker stick 25, which is pivotally attached at 26 to a bracket 21 of the loom, extends through the lug strap 24. When the pick arm I! is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 28 during the conventional function of the loom it is adapted to rotate the picker stick on its pivot 26. This is brought about by the sweep stick to which the lug strap 24 is attached and which is, in turn, pivotally attached at 2! to the pick arm.

As shown in Fig. 1, when the pick arm ll returns to its initial position in a direction opposite that indicated by the arrow 28, its return motion is checked by engagement thereof with the buffer member 9. Due to the fact that the buffer memher 9 is formed of resilient material, there is little tendency toward wear of said pick arm, and little, if any, noise is created.

The extent of return motion of the pick arm is determined by the position of the buffer member 9 and may be varied by raising or lowering said buffer member by loosening the nut 16 on the bolt !4 and may be held thereafter in adjusted position by tightening said nut.

It is pointed out that the pick arm, sweep stick, lug strap, picker stick and the brackets to which the pick arm and picker stick are pivotally attached are conventional parts of a loom and the function thereof is conventional. The loom side or frame section to which the device is adjustably attached is also a conventional part of the loom.

A further advantage of the device is that there is less tendency toward wear of the end of the sweep stick adjacent the picker stick because of the motion restricting and cushioning function of the buffer member 9.

Although the device is illustrated as having a rectangular shaped socket in which the buffer member 9 is positioned, it is to be understood that it may be formed circular or to any other desirable contour shape.

It is further pointed out that while the loom side or frame section is, in many instances, in the form of an open channel iron requiring the device to be provided with a projection ID for engaging the bottom surface of said channel iron as set forth above, the said channel iron is in some instances reversed. In this instance, the rear surface of the channel iron will be disposed on the side toward the plate 4 whereby the projection ll] eliminated. This is due to the fact that the adjacent surface of the plate 4 will fit in contiguous intimate relation with the flat forwardly disposed surface of the channel iron. The said device, however, may be raised or lowered for the required motion limiting adjustments in a manner similar to that previously described.

From the foregoingdescription, it will be seen that simple, eflicient and economical means have been provided for accomplishing all of the objects and advantages of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a main relatively flat plate portion having a slot extending throughout the major portion of the length thereof, said plate portion having an integrally related angularly disposed head extending outwardly of one side of an end thereof, said head having a relatively deep socket portion therein of a depth greater than the thickness of the flat plate portion and a buffer member of resilient material normally of a size larger than and shaped substantially to the shape of the socket and frictionally positioned therein with the major portion thereof lying within the socket and with a portion thereof of a length less than the depth of the socket extending outwardly of the adjacent free end of the head.

2. A device of the character described comprising a main relatively flat plate portion having a slot extending throughout the major portion of the length thereof, said plate portion having an integrally related angularly disposed head extending outwardly of one side of an end thereof, said head having a socket portion therein of a depth greater than the thickness of the fiat plate portion, a buffer member of resilient material normally of a size larger than and shaped substantially to the shape of the socket and frictionally positioned therein with the major portion thereof lying within the socket and with a portion thereof of a length less than the depth of the socket extending outwardly of the adjacent free end of the head, and said main plate portion having outwardly projecting means on the side thereof opposed to said head.

3. A device of the character described comprising a main plate portion having a slot extending in a direction longitudinally thereof and having an integral head disposed to one side of the plane of said plate portion, an upper surface portion acutely angled with respect to said plane and extending to the opposed sides thereof, said angled surface constituting the upper edge portion of said integral head and the upper edge portion of projection means on the side of said plate portion opposite the head, said head having a socket therein whose axis is substantially parallel with the angle of said upper surface portion and of a depth greater than the thickness of the flat plate portion and a bulfer member of resilient material frictionally positioned within the socket with the major portion thereof lying in said socket and having a portion extending outwardly of the adjacent free end of the head of a length less than the depth of the socket.

4. A device of the character described con prising a main plate portion having a slot extending in a direction longitudinally thereof, said main plate portion having an integral head disposed to one side of the plane of said plate portion and projection means on the opposed side of said plane, said head and projection means having a continuous upper surface acutely angled with respect to said plane and extending to the opposed sides of said plane, the forward edge of said upper surface constituting the upper edge portion of said integral head and the rear edge of said surface constituting the upper edge portion of said projection means, said head having a socket therein whose axis is substant lly parallel with the angle of said upper surf portion, a buffer member of resilient mate ai frictionally positioned within the socket and having a socket therein whose axis is substantially parallel with the angle of said upper surface portion, a buffer member of resilent frictionally positioned within the socket and having a portion extending outwardly of the adjacent free end of the head, a channel iron associated with said main plate portion with the edge portion of one of the sides of said channel iron engaging the side surface of said plate portion having the projection means thereon and said projection means having an end surface engaging the base of the channel iron, the length of said projection means being such as to support said plate portion in a substantially vertical position and means extending through the longitudinal slot and connected with said channel iron for supporting said device in operative position.

5. A device of the character described comprising a main plate portion having a slot extending in a direction longitudinally thereof, said main plate portion having an integral head disposed to one side of the plane of said plate portion and projection means on the opposed side of said plane, said head and projection means having an upper surface portion acutely angled with respect to said plane and extending to the opposed sides of said plane, the forward edge of said upper surface constituting the upper edge portion of said integral head and the rear edge of said surface constituting the upper edge portion of projection means, said head having a socket therein whose axis is substantially parallel with the angle of said upper surface portion, a buffer member of resilient material frictionally positioned within the socket and having a portion extending outwardly of the adjacent free end of the head, a channel iron associated with said main plate portion with the edge portion of one of the sides of said channel iron engaging the side surface of said plate portion having the projection means thereon and said projection means having an end surface engaging the base of the channel iron, the length of said projection means being such as to support said plate portion in a substantially vertical position and means extending through the longitudinal slot and connected with said channel iron for supportingsaid device in operative position, said means permitting said projection to be adjusted upwardly or downwardly with respect to said channel iron While retaining said plate portion in said substantially vertical position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,262,255 Sargent Nov. 11, 1941 2,413,643 Nault Dec. 31, 1946 2,478,284 Lake et al. Aug. 9, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 879,862 France Dec. 10, 1942 

